John Locke

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If you’re one of the six million new Kindle owners, you’re probably ready to load some books. But where do you start? I mean, seriously, with over 800,000 books to choose from, where do you start?

Here’s an idea. Fourteen authors have sold more than a million eBooks on Kindle. Type the following names into your Kindle search and you’ll find their catalog of eBooks. Some are more expensive than others, but these are the top-selling authors, so their books are almost certainly worth the price.

Stieg Larsson

James Patterson

Nora Roberts

Charlaine Harris

Lee Child

Suzanne Collins

Michael Connelly

(See Below) *

Janet Evanovich

Kathryn Stockett

George R.R. Martin

David Baldacci

Amanda Hocking

Stephenie Meyer

*In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m John Locke, #8 on the above list. I’m a New York Times Best Selling Author, and I sold more than 1,720,000 eBooks in 2011.

Just to be clear:

I’m not asking you to choose me over these other wonderful authors. In fact, I recommend you buy their books first, because you probably already know and love them. Buy as many of their books as you can afford. Then, if you’ve got a dollar left over, I recommend you give one of my books a try. You see, I sell my eBooks for 99 cents. This isn’t a one-time special, it’s my everyday friendship price for all my novels.

I could charge more for my eBooks. But you know what that would mean?

It would mean you’d have to pay more.

I’ve written 14 thrillers, mysteries and westerns. My two newest 99 cent novels are Call Me! and Maybe. If you feel like giving these books a try, here’s a link:

Synopsis: When an angry, unemployed chemist unleashes a bio-terrorist attack against women and children, the president of the United States asks Donovan Creed to get involved. It’s just one more thing on Creed’s plate.

Remember, enjoy these other authors first, and tell them I sent you. And when you’re down to your last Kindle buck and want to have a few laughs, try one of my laugh-out-loud thrillers.

You’re going to love your new Kindle. A world of entertainment awaits!

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Good advice, John! But how about books which haven't sold quite a million yet? Belfast Girls is an Irish romantic thriller, high up in the top ten for its genre, which has sold thousands. New Kindle owners, you just might like it! (And its 99p, too!) and you might also love my second romantic thriller, Danger Danger!
http://www.amazon.com/Belfast-Girls-ebook/dp/B004DNWS3W
http://www.amazon.com/Danger-ebook/dp/B005W7TUQQ
Hope your holiday stays great!

John, that is a great list. I've read if not all of those authors most of them. There are so e-books to choose from, it's mind boggling and bit daunting. The next thing is how to make your book stand out from all the 800,000 others. I'm not sure. I guess you write a great book, and hope those who read it, yell it from the mountains. .99cent price point is the big seller, but is the best books? Then there are the free books. That I won't go for, I'm worth more then free. I've worked to hard to give away a book. I might a small short story for a holiday, but not a full size novel.
Again, a great list...Hope you had a happy holiday and are still enjoying. Happy New Years.

Thanks for all you do for indie authors, John. You are an inspiration.
I've never sold my book for .99, but I've made it free for 24 hours, and then seen a wild surge in sales. Everything is an adventure here in the bold frontier of independent publishing!
Patrice Fitzgerald, best selling author of "Running"

Hello there John - greetings from Poland! You know... that country in central Europe once considered Uncle Sam's most faithful friend in the Old World :)
Though I don't quite believe in your modesty, I must give you credit for one thing: you and Amanda Hocking became real idols for Polish indie authors. Polish portals and blogs devoted to the subject of e-books and self-publishing drip with hosannas in your honor :) Your astonishing success gives them hope and blows a nice portion of wind into their sails. I actually should say "gives US hope..." because I'm also a writer and, from time to time, a self-publisher. But I don't feel an urging pressure to make a big hit. Just cultivating my tiny experimental garden :)
And, unlike most of my indie fellows, I realize how difficult it is to gain results only in broad approximation close to yours in a language such marginal and exotic as Polish. Hell, you create in the most popular language of this planet - a genuine Latin of our epoque - while Polish is spoken by, let's say, 30 or, at best, 40 milion people. Which - along with the fact that e-books are a total niche in our book industry - doesn't give much hope for the nearest future. Not to mention areas such as Chech, German or... Dutch for example.
I'v tried some of your and Amanda's work and - even though your writing is not quite what I seek and expect from literature - I'd be a total ignorant not appreciating that it's possible, atleast potentially, to find readers without support of big publishing houses and a proffessional marketing machinery.
And since we're in recommending stuff, I'd like to interest you and your visitors in a couple of books from Polish authors publishing in English. Yeah, some of us try to become Joseph Conrads of our age :) Maybe you'll find some of that worth hanging your eye on. Sorry, I'm not sure if that's the correct way to say this :)
http://www.amazon.com/Three-oh-ebook/dp/B005TSZ7XS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325112390&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Medal-Earwigs-Carpet-Mississippi-ebook/dp/B005FF2UQM/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325112463&sr=1-3
http://www.amazon.com/Password-Incorrect-Fiction-Stories-ebook/dp/B003552KPK/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1325112581&sr=1-1
My best to you for the upcoming New Year. And forgive my poor English.

I've just recently decided to go indie, and you were the first person recommended to me to follow. I have agent who is trying to sell my book with little success. With another unrelated book I decided to try my hand at indie publication. It is a learning experience. My goal right now is still to become traditionally published, but while I wait I'll keep writing and publish indie, while I follow your advice.
Love the list. Read all those authors.

John, did Amazon's UK arm, not offer you a slot on their heavily promoted '12 days of Kindle'? Granted they wouldn't have been able to show a price drop as the other books were reduced to 0.99GBP - above your 0.72GBP stnd price - but they seemed to be running out of willing authors at the end, leaving some -really- obscure books with only 1 or 2 reviews.
I was gifted & just finished 'Vegas Moon' over Xmas, but for the next book I'm torn between getting the latest (thus up to date with online chat) or restarting in sequence (may never catch up again with the prolific release rate!). Can anyone suggest an ideal candidate in the set to cover the majority or a key event in Donovon Creed's backstory?

Lee,
Check out John's book "How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!" (http://amzn.to/zI1NdL) It's well worth the $2.99. I read it in a day, applied his techniques. Days later, I started selling books and getting five star reviews (http://amzn.to/yJrZk5)
Good luck.
~Joe

Bravo, John Locke. Your books are a kick. (Sure hope that makes a Texas girl "cool."
These kudos come with trepidation; sure your cyber cache is a hacker's dream & I NEVER social media. (Can't say that anymore & have to wonder what it could mean to a publishing career.) But since you've thrown in w/the BigBoys & upped the price on Vegas, I'm hoping to get a better price on future publications.

I am so excited to have read your book which led me to read 6 more in 3 days . As part of a self-publishing team I am especially interested in how you have created this value . I am meeting with my partner to start incorporating some of your principles into our business plan . Thank you for the invaluable information .

JOHN, I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I AM ENJOYING YOUR CREED SERIES. I WAS HOOKED ON LEE CHILDS REACHER BOOKS HAVE READ MOST OF THEM . NOW I HAVE DONAVON CREED, MY NEW HERO.
I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED SUPER HERO'S. I LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE IS GOING TO RIGHT ALL THE WRONGS OF THE WORLD. EVEN IF THEY ARE A ASSASSIN LIKE CREED. THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL BOOKS

JOHN, I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU HOW MUCH I AM ENJOYING YOUR CREED SERIES. I WAS HOOKED ON LEE CHILDS REACHER BOOKS HAVE READ MOST OF THEM . NOW I HAVE DONAVON CREED, MY NEW HERO.
I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED SUPER HERO'S. I LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE IS GOING TO RIGHT ALL THE WRONGS OF THE WORLD. EVEN IF THEY ARE A ASSASSIN LIKE CREED. THANK YOU FOR THE WONDERFUL BOOKS..

About John Locke

Author of the Best Selling Donovan Creed Series of Books, Emmett Love Westerns, and Dani Ripper Novels.

NY TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR!

8th MEMBER of the KINDLE MILLION SALES CLUB!

First self-published author to hit #1 on Amazon/Kindle!

First self-published author to hit Kindle Million Sales Club!

John sold 1,100,000 eBooks in 5 months by word of mouth!

John wrote and published 6 best-selling books in 3 separate genres in 6 months, part-time! He has had 4 of the top 10 eBooks on Amazon/Kindle at the same time, including #1 and #2! He’s also had 6 of the top 20, and 8 of the top 43 at the same time! Every eBook John Locke has written and published has become a best-seller.